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Hope for 'continued progress' in Myanmar

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He's emailing from Aung San Suu Kyi's garden ahead of a visit by Barack Obama

U.S. president is on historic trip to Myanmar Monday as part of Asian tour

Obama is first sitting U.S. president to visit Myanmar after years of repressive military rule

I am surfing the Internet from Aung San Suu Kyi's garden. That sentence implies several minor miracles.

The fact that I am in the country at all is surprising.

I was deported for my reporting on the repression here... twice. Now I have been invited back with the White House press pack, my past "sins" apparently forgotten.

To be here at this most famous house is strangely moving.

I'd driven past it on numerous occasions when Daw Suu was under house arrest -- the secret police watching the entrance, whispering into their radios, as they saw a car full of Westerners approaching.

You couldn't even stop on this part of University Avenue in those days, let alone wander around the manicured garden of "the Lady."

Photos: Myanmar welcomes Obama 22 photos

Photos: Myanmar welcomes Obama22 photos

Myanmar welcomes Obama – U.S. President Barack Obama hugs Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi after making a speech at her residence in Yangon on Monday, November 19. Obama met the democracy icon during a historic visit to Yangon aimed at encouraging political reforms in the former pariah state.

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Myanmar welcomes Obama – Local residents gather outside Aung San Suu Kyi's house as U.S. President Obama met with her on Monday.

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Myanmar welcomes Obama – U.S. President Obama is greeted by Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi at her residence in Yangon on Monday.

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Myanmar welcomes Obama – U.S. President Obama shakes hands with Myanmar's President Thein Sein in Yangon on Monday.

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Myanmar welcomes Obama – U.S. President Obama and Myanmar's President Thein Sein hold a meeting at the regional parliament building in Yangon on Monday.

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Myanmar welcomes Obama – U.S. President Obama speaks at the University of Yangon on Monday.

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Myanmar welcomes Obama – U.S. President Obama (3rd L) and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (front R) are escorted around the grounds as they visit the Shwedagon pagoda in Yangon on Monday.

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Myanmar welcomes Obama – U.S. President Obama performs a ritual as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton looks on at a visit to the Shwedagon pagoda in Yangon on Monday.

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Myanmar welcomes Obama – U.S. President Obama is greeted by a local woman as he arrives with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Yangon, Myanmar, on Monday.

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U.S. President Obama waves after stepping off his flight.

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Myanmar welcomes Obama – U.S. President Obama is greeted by a contingent at the Yangon International airport on Monday.

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Myanmar welcomes Obama – Local residents line up along the street with cameras as Obama's motorcade drives to the Parliament House in Yangon.

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Myanmar welcomes Obama – Local residents wait in anticipation as Obama's motorcade drives to the Parliament House in Yangon.

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Myanmar welcomes Obama – A girl holds American flags that she just purchased at a flag shop as Yangon, Myanmar, prepares for Obama's visit. Obama will be the first U.S. president to visit Myanmar, also known as Burma, during his four-day tour of Southeast Asia, which will also include visits to Thailand and Cambodia.

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Myanmar welcomes Obama – Two men silk-screen Obama T-shirts at a shop in Yangon on Sunday in preparation for Obama's visit.

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Myanmar welcomes Obama – A Burmese woman fixes an American flag onto a wooden stick at a flag shop in Yangon on Sunday.

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Myanmar welcomes Obama – A Burmese man walks by graffiti depicting the U.S. president on Saturday in Yangon.

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Myanmar welcomes Obama – Kyu Kyu Mar, owner of Super silk screening shop, holds a T-shirt printed with an image of U.S. President Obama on Friday in Yangon.

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Myanmar welcomes Obama – A Buddhist Monk reads a local newspaper carrying a picture of U.S. President Obama in downtown Yangon on Saturday.

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Myanmar welcomes Obama – A Burmese worker is seen in a flag shop surrounded by American flags on Friday in Yangon.

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Myanmar welcomes Obama – Cups printed with pictures of US President Barack Obama and Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi are displayed at a shop in downtown Yangon on Saturday.

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Myanmar welcomes Obama – T-shirts printed with pictures of US President Barack Obama and Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi at a shop in downtown Yangon on Saturday

The U.S. policy of sanctions was clearly failing: punishing the people and leaving the elite free to plunder the rich resources of this benighted country.

In 2009, the White House initiated a review of policy towards the country it still stubbornly calls Burma.

It resulted in a significant shift toward Myanmar. Engagement was the watchword. But few dared to predict how quickly events would move.

Officials here are frank about their astonishment.

Don't forget it was only just over two years ago that Suu Kyi was still under house arrest and the whole road map to democracy seemed a sham.

Now she is not only free, but meeting leaders around the world.

She is an elected member of parliament, and President Thein Sein has even talked about her one day being a future leader.

It's important not to get too carried away. Poverty is still endemic, 25% of the country doesn't have electricity, healthcare is parlous, ethnic conflict still stalks verdant hills in the north and what amounts to ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims continues in the west.

The Army still controls politics and business. Hundreds of political prisoners languish behind bars.

But there is something in the air here that has been so desperately lacking in the past: hope.